The city of Burien in Washington State, a suburban community south of Seattle, has erected a fence to contain a growing homeless encampment that is encroaching on a local courthouse.
The homeless community is not happy about the fencing but the encampment is not even legal.
Homelessness is a growing problem in many cities but the northwest is struggling with the issue more than other parts of the country.
Breitbart News reports:
VIDEO — ‘Caged in Like Animals’: Washington Officials Place Fence Around Homeless Camp Near Courthouse
A fence was set up Thursday around a homeless encampment in Burien, Washington, after tents spilled over into a nearby parking lot.
The tents are now surrounded by fencing near the Burien Courthouse parking lot at 6th Avenue SW and SW 149th Street, Fox 13 reported.
A King County Facilities Management Division spokesperson said the fence was set up to make sure the court’s parking lot was available for its own purposes.
However, the spokesperson added that, “We are not using the fencing to establish or define a tent camping area, or control the tent camping that is present on the site.”…
When speaking of the fencing, Michael Collins, who has lived at the encampment for several months, told Fox 13, “It’s like they’re caging us in — like we’re a danger maybe. It’s kind of like a jail. Caged in like animals.”
Watch this video report:
What was the city supposed to do? Allow the camp to just keep growing?
DOW PUTS SQUEEZE ON BURIEN HOMELESS, corralling them behind fences next to Burien Police precinct and courthouse. https://t.co/VUvONd8OB6@BurienPD @Burien @choeshow @DowC #burien #homeless #crime #fentanyl #overdose pic.twitter.com/gtWum3MLNr
— Burien-News (@thegem_news) May 17, 2024
King County officials say a homeless camp on their property in Burien is not sanctioned and technically illegal, but people in the area say putting up fencing to contain the camp’s spread and allowing the people to stay seems like an endorsement to them. Live on KOMO-TV at 6pm pic.twitter.com/IPwqqe0K5l
— Joel Moreno (@JoelMorenoKOMO) May 16, 2024
It’s sad that tent camps have become ‘normal’ in so many American cities.
